Week Three Questions

[plumboz]

Jumping the gun here just a bit, but folks, I have to be to work early tomorrow and I didn't want to risk missing my deadline. So here we go with the third round of questions. If you studied for your SAT's you should find that prepared you in no way for this little quiz.



1. What is the name of the eating establishment where Doreen almost, but not quite meets up with Ted and Jerry?

2. What did Mrs. Kinsbury accidentally happen across while she was trying to retrieve “a copy of a little something” she had been working on.


3. What is the song that Jerry has the choir sing a capella? And what does he have them do with the song that is different from its usual treatment?

4. How did Bethie meet Quinny/Wilson/&?


5. What did Leslie end up running into when he missed stabbing Doreen? What factors caused him to veer off target?

6. Do you think Jerry will ever get his beer?


7. Why does Jerry think Doreen is perhaps talking to a car? Or maybe a dog inside the car?

8. Ted’s attempted boost of Jerry over the fence has instead results that are compared with what ancient sporting activity?

9. And lastly, do the various threads and characters seem to be coming together for you in this third quarter of the book? Are the connections beginning to make a bit more sense? Or have you cursed the author and declared the thing a waste of a perfectly good coupon?

10. Okay, so that wasn’t really the last one. This is. Do you feel at all sorry for Leslie?





Have a great week!

[WT Sharpe]

1. What is the name of the eating establishment where Doreen almost, but not quite meets up with Ted and Jerry?

The Burger Works Restaurant in Chandler, Arizona.

2. What did Mrs. Kinsbury accidentally happen across while she was trying to retrieve "a copy of a little something" she had been working on.

Ms. K. discovered that their agency was being downsized.

3. What is the song that Jerry has the choir sing a capella? And what does he have them do with the song that is different from its usual treatment?

"Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow," AKA the "Old Hundredth."

Years ago, in a Unitarian Universalist Church where I was the keyboard player, every Sunday we would sing the words,

From all that dwell below the skies
Let songs of love and hope arise;
Let peace, goodwill on earth be sung
Thru every land, by every tongue.

to that tune. In order to keep things interesting, I would improvise the tune in a different style each week, and, yes, even once as a fugue (although that week the congregation got to listen rather than participate). Some weeks it would swing, other weeks it would rock, some weeks it would be solemn, other weeks joyous, sometimes serious, and sometimes frivolous. Some people liked the variety, others found it confusing, but as the only keyboard player, I was in the driver's seat and it was my way of combining the traditional with the contemporary. I like to think that both Jerry and Ted would have approved.

The idea of less-than-perfect Jerry being a choir director reminded me of an old episode of Columbo where Johnny Cash guest-starred as a gospel singer/murderer. At the end of the episode, Columbo (Peter Falk) confronts Cash on a deserted road with the proof that Cash is the killer. When Cash asked him why he didn't fear for his own life, especially since no witnesses were around, Columbo turned on a tape of Cash singing gospel music. He then said to Cash that anyone who could sing like that couldn't be all bad.

4. How did Bethie meet Quinny/Wilson/&?

She met him while visiting her friend who worked at the cartoon store and later discovered that he was the grandson of the man who stole her great grandfather's business. I LOVED this part of the story. I just knew there was more to Bethie than meets the eye. Is & dead or did he recover after she left? I hope he's dead, and I hope Bertie gets away with his murder! & is suck a jerk! My only concern is for Jerry and Ted. If & is dead, who will pay them? and if they aren't paid, how will Ted ever recover Sarah?

5. What did Leslie end up running into when he missed stabbing Doreen? What factors caused him to veer off target?

When he missed Doreen, partially because of his previous injuries throwing him off-game but mainly because of a quick dodge from Doreen, he got his big break in television.

6. Do you think Jerry will ever get his beer?

Not one of the things that really engages my attention in the story, but no. He'll probably get gas instead. Flatulence is always funnier. If music is the universal language, flatulence is the universal humor, able to tickle the funny-bones of men everywhere from those with phDs to boys in elementary school. For some reason, women aren't as appreciative of the genre; possibly because of all the nights they've suffered from husbands and boyfriends who see great humor in suddenly throwing a blanket around them both just before a major release of the humorous substance.

7. Why does Jerry think Doreen is perhaps talking to a car? Or maybe a dog inside the car?

What should someone think when they see someone talking to an apparently empty seat in a convertible? I cracked up at the suggestion that perhaps she was giving the car what for!

I also got a big kick out of Amelia earlier doing the "caught naked" dance. As someone who once performed that particular number for my late in-laws, I can relate!

8. Ted's attempted boost of Jerry over the fence has instead results that are compared with what ancient sporting activity?

Caber tossing, which involves tossing telephone poles just like the ancient Celts used to toss theirs. This activity was once so popular among the ancient Celts that it resulted in their having the worst phone service in the ancient world, as people tearing down telephone poles to engage in the sport pretty much destroyed the ancient phone company's infrastructure.

For the purposes of this group, I've been trying not to skip ahead in the story, but this cliff-hanger with Jerry's silence has made it hard. Why doesn't Jerry respond to Ted's calls? Is he injured? Does someone have the drop on him? I'm very much looking forward to this week's reading for the answers!

9. And lastly, do the various threads and characters seem to be coming together for you in this third quarter of the book? Are the connections beginning to make a bit more sense? Or have you cursed the author and declared the thing a waste of a perfectly good coupon?

I do like the way things are coming together.

10. Okay, so that wasn't really the last one. This is. Do you feel at all sorry for Leslie?

I don't feel the least bit of sympathy for Leslie, and will not until he learns how to empathize with others and practice the art of kindness.

[Roxie]

1. What is the name of the eating establishment where Doreen almost, but not quite meets up with Ted and Jerry?
The name of the eating establishment is The Burger Works Restaurant.

2. What did Mrs. Kinsbury accidentally happen across while she was trying to retrieve “a copy of a little something” she had been working on.
It was a coded message about the AABC being shutdown.

3. What is the song that Jerry has the choir sing a capella? And what does he have them do with the song that is different from its usual treatment?
The song's name is Doxology. The unusual treatment was to sing it as a fugue.

4. How did Bethie meet Quinny/Wilson/&?
Bethie met Quinny/Wilson/& while visiting her friend in NYC during the summer. Her friend was working in a comic book store and Quinny walked in and talked to Bethie and her friend. He then left his business card in Bethie's overall's pocket.

5. What did Leslie end up running into when he missed stabbing Doreen? What factors caused him to veer off target?
Leslie ended up running headfirst into a tv screen. His broken nose, sudden onset of allergies, a dusty room, the crumbling popcorn ceiling, and Doreen's trying to avoid being stabbed caused him to veer off target.

6. Do you think Jerry will ever get his beer?
No. I feel really bad for Ted!

7. Why does Jerry think Doreen is perhaps talking to a car? Or maybe a dog inside the car?
They think she is talking to the car or a dog because her naked sister is stuck between the seat and the dashboard. (Poor Ameliea can't seem to catch a break!)

8. Ted’s attempted boost of Jerry over the fence has instead results that are compared with what ancient sporting activity?
Throwing a javelin. (?)

9. And lastly, do the various threads and characters seem to be coming together for you in this third quarter of the book? Are the connections beginning to make a bit more sense? Or have you cursed the author and declared the thing a waste of a perfectly good coupon?
Yes, I think that the connections are coming together. I am still happy to be supporting the band wth my purchase from B&N.

10. Okay, so that wasn’t really the last one. This is. Do you feel at all sorry for Leslie?
No. He must have some VERY bad karma!

[plumboz]

Thanks, WT and Roxie,

Getting others' perspectives on this story and these characters is a real blast for me. WT, your story about what you used to do with what Methodists call The Doxology is a kick. When I was a teenager I became the first guitarist to play in the sanctuary of our church. It took some of the congregation by surprise when I walked in with the choir, some of them smiling, some of them obviously not happy with the introduction of an unfamiliar element into the service. After a lapse of many years while I went through first a non-church phase and then attended a different (closer) church, I returned as a married man with children and the first thing many of the old timers asked me was "When are we going to hear you play guitar again?" A couple weeks later I accompanied a young lady in a rendition of "Amazing Grace" that gave me a chance to take an entire 32 bar improvised solo. Playing music is a wonderful, wonderful thing to have in ones life, but it is only really great if its shared with others. Nowadays my opportunities to play "out" are pretty well limited to the care home where my mother lives. But it's still good and I'm glad I have that to offer. Anyway, Roxie, thanks again for supporting the kids. Who knows how many lives they will touch with their own music?


On another note, if I might say that it has been my experience with other message boards, including a long running site created exclusively for the folks who were in my high school graduating class, that there are always "lurkers", people who like to check in and see what's going on but just don't feel the need to put in their own two cents worth. I just wanted to put a call out to any lurkers here at the Ye Olde Boomerang Book Club and say "Hello! Glad you're here!".

And regardless of whether you chime in with answers to my deep and probing questions, or you just prefer to go along for the ride, I do hope you are enjoying Boomerang.

[arne_bue]

Oh my gawd you caught me being a lurker. I read the answers to the questions and nodded in agreement to the answers. I have finished this fun book. I will continue my lurking and when I MUST comment on a comment I will do so.
[I wonder how the heck Alan knew I was lurking. LOL ]
ARNE

[plumboz]

Arne,

Lurking has a bad rep. If that's your comfort zone, then lurk to your heart's content, that's what I say.

But thanks for emerging long enough to say that you liked Boomerang!

Alan